Halter.



A. F. HOFFMAN.

HALTER.

APPLICATION FILED 'sEPT. 15, me.

Patented May 22, 1917.

T pj ro n11 noun nun 0a,. mml rna. vumncmd. n. c.

AUBREY r. Hermann, or nonerom), KANSAS.

HALTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22', 1917.

Application filed September 15, 1916. Serial No. 120,340.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUBREY F. HOFFMAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Longford, in the county of Clay and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and ject is to provide a halter of strips of metal and so arrange the same that they will readily fit over the head and neck of the animal and in a manner conform to the shape of the neck and head of the animal.

further object is to provide the halter in two sections and hingedly secure the sections together at one point. r g

And a further object is to provide a combined strap holder and latch for securing the opposite sections of the halter together.

Other objects and advantages will behereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the accompanying specification.

In the accompanying drawings which are made a part of this'application,

Figure 1 is a perspectlve view showing my improved halter applied to use on the head of the animal.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the halter removed, and

Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view showing one manner of attaching the ends of the wires employed for forming the parts of the halter, together.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 1 and 2 indicate the two sections of the halter which are preferably formed of lengths of heavy wire, each section being formed of one continuous piece of material, the ends of which are connected together in any suitable manner, as by welding, or may be secured together, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, by forming atongue 3 on one end piece and a slot 4 at the other end of the section for the reception of the tongue, a rivet 5 being then introduced through the overlapping portions of the ends to fasten the same together. The sections 1 and 2 comprise a pair of face bars 6 and 7 upon which are formed interspersed eyes 8 and 9 through which is introduced a pivot pin 10, thereby hingedly connecting the two sections 1 and 2 together. The upper ends of the face bars 6 and 7 are curved so as to readily fit over the top portion of the head of the animal, said curved ends terminating in outwardly curved portions 11 and 12 to form a ring to fit around the neck of the animal.

The outwardly curved portions 11 and 12 terminate at their lower ends. in parallel jaw bars 13 and 141, said jaw bars extending substantially at right angles to the outwardly curved portions and terminate substantially in line with the lower ends of the face bars 6' and 7 where they are connected with the ends of the outwardly bowed portions 15 and 16 of a nose loop 17, the upper ends of the. outwardly bowed portions belng integral with the face bars, while the lower ends thereof may be soldered to the jaw bars 13 and 14; or attached thereto, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. By forming the two sections of the halter in this manner and hingedly attaching them together, the halter may be very quickly applied to useover the head of the animal or removed therefrom, as it is but necessary to swing the jaw bars 13 and 14 away from eachother to readily introduce the same overthe head of the animal, after which the two sections are swung together, and as the outwardly curved portions 11 and 12, forming the neck ring passes in the rear of the jaw of the animal, the halter will be securely held in position.

In order to lock the two sections of the halter together to prevent the same from casually swinging to an open position, a

latch structure is provided which consists of a section of wire, or other material bent upon itself to form a strap holding eye 18,

the two end portions of the strip of wire belng then twlsted together for a distance andone of the ends 19 then twisted around.

the jaw bar 14: and the opposite end formed into a hook 20 for engagement with the outwardly bowed portion 15 at its point of engagement with the jaw bar 13.

The end 19 of the combined strap holder and latch is slidable lengthwise of the jaw bar 14 so that the hook 20 may be readily engaged with or disengaged from the outwardly bowed portion 15, and in order to securely hold the hook in engagement with the portion 15 when the halter is in use, a collar 21 is placed upon the jaw bar 14 and is held in adjustedposition thereon by means of a screw 22, and between the collar 21 and the end 19 and around the jaw bar 14, is a coil spring 23.

The extreme end 24 of the end section 19 is extended forwardly so that it will pass below the bowed portion 16 to hold the eye 18 against swinging movement when the halter is removed from the animal.

In applying the halter to use, the jaw bars 13 and 1 1 are swung away from each other and the face bars rested upon the face of the animal and adjusted rearWardly until the outwardly curved portions forming the neck ring, are placed in the rear of the jaw of the animal, when the jaw bars 13 and 14 are again brought together and the hook 20 then engaged with the outwardly bowed portion 15, thus securely locking the halter in position upon the head of the animal.

It will likewise be seen that the halter can be as quickly released from the head of the animal, as it is but necessary to disengage the hook from the portion 15 in order to remove the halter from the head of the animal.

This device can be very cheaply constructed, and as all of the parts are made of metal, it will be practically indestructible from use.

I claim:

1. A halter consisting of a pair of. hinged cooperating sections, and means to lock the free edges of said sections together.

2. A halter consisting of a pair of cooperating halter sections, each section being formed from a single piece of material,

means to hingedly secure said' sections together, and additional means to lock said sections against hinging movement.

3. A halter consisting of a pair of sections, comprising parallel face bars, means to hingedly secure said face bars together, a pair of parallel jaw bars below said face bars, outwardly bowed portions connecting the face bars and jaw bars at their opposed ends, one set of bowed portions forming a neck ring, and the opposite bowed portions a nose loop, and means to hold said sections against hinging movement.

4. A halter consisting of the combination with a pair of hinged sections, of a latch structure slidably attached to one of the sections, a hook on said latch structure adapted to engage the other section, and yielding means to normally hold the hook in. engagement with its respective sections.

5. A halter consisting of the combination with a pair of hinged sections, of a latch structure slidably attached to one of the sections, a hook on said latch structure adapted to engage the other section, yielding means to normally hold the hook in engagement with its respective sections, and a stop lug carried by the slidably mounted end of the latch structure and adapted to engage beneath the outer portion of one of said hinged sections to prevent the latch structure from swinging when disengaged from the opposite section.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

AUBREY F. HOFFMAN.

Witnesses Joe. P. LEWIS, MYRTLE A. LEWIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0." 

